July 24, 2011

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Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner persisted on Sunday in the Obama administration's extreme reluctance to talk about contingency plans if the U.S. hits the debt limit on Aug. 2, but he conceded that some planning was under way.

"We will do everything we can to mitigate the damage," Geithner said after repeated prodding by host Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday." "We are doing the responsible thing."

Geithner said nothing more about the contingency planning or about what kinds of government payment would be prioritized in a cash shortfall. Many former officials and analysts say Treasury would do all it could to stave off a default on government bonds, so the shortfall would have to come out of other payments including Social Security, veterans benefits, military pay and payments to military contractors.

"We do not have the ability, Chris, to protect the American people from the consequences of not" raising the debt limit. "We write 80 million checks a month. There are millions and millions of Americans who depend on those checks coming on time."

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Geitner would 'try' to pay the debt. Debt payments in August are $29 billion. We take in $175 billion in August. Clearly not difficult to make it. We even take in enough to pay for SSI and medicare and combat pay.
Thus the lies continue. There is no way we should default if they prioritize the debt and SSI and Medicare first.

Timmy goes on Fox and says one thing and then goes on Ammanpour and really goes ballistic, knowing full well he could never have said the things on fox, because fox would have called him on his comments.

Geitner was under Summers thumb, now he faces what is left from poor distribution plans in "TARP" + poor or paltry sums in "Stimulus" & Clinton's Signing Repeal of Glass/Stegal. Tough place in history but no airwaves have message to voters that THEIR OWN credit card interest rates go up also.

Tim Geithner, experienced tax cheat and Obama's holder of the checkbook doesn't have a clue about the budget. Tax Cheats don't want budgets - they want to spend and Obama is a glorious spender! ----- Patronage is the game of Obama - want a job have a FOO call Obama!

By claiming he does not have the power to "protect the American people from the consequences" of Congress' failure to raise the debt ceiling, Geithner is fomenting fear and uncertainty.
The reality: Geithner has full authority to ensure the government continues to function smoothly. What we need from our Treasury Secretary is calm, not histrionics.

Geitner on Christiane Amanpour on ABC's "This Week.", what a piece of ----. He sat ther and lied thru his teeth. The democates are excellent at politics, and lying. Nothing else, Obama and his boys have no idea what is going on. They have been in the back of the limo ever since the election. they have the dark glass closed between them and the driver, and his instructions were, "Just drive". At this point they have run out of gas, the minibar is now dry, and no one has any idea as to what to do. They are also excellent in telling you what won't work. No plans themselves, but they can tell you that anything the Conservatives come up with won;t work. And then they have the gaul to tell you that the Conservatives are in the way. They are also good at scare tactics, just like Geitner today, accusing the Conservatives of trying to solve the budget proibelm on the backs of our seniors. Remember, "it's going to affect our teachers, Police, and Fireman. Dem's cannot accomplish anything without spending great amounts of money. Every problem that exists today cannot be solved by throwing money at it. But the dem's sure are trying. The hypocracy is reaching a disgusting level with there folks.

Plan???, they have no plan. They can tell you that something won't work, in their opinion, but they have no plan what so ever.
It's like losing weight, you have to eat less, and exercise more. Or in opther words, tax less, and get out of business 's way. Less regulation, not more. Just ask Steve Wynn, and he's a Dem. Well????

TRUST FACTOR. How can one negotiate with a tax cheat, and the liar in chief? And DAMAGE? It started in Jan 2009 when obama and crew started ramrodding $4,000,000,000,000 in debt down our throats. Ist things first: cut obamacare and get rid of obama's shadow government, the czars.

"This Week" had a smart panel this week. But Candy Crowley went way overboard advocating the Dems' positions on tax increases and gay marriage. I oppose tax increases and support gay marriage.
"Compromise" is Obama Democrats' code word for tax increases. Crowley and other media type use the word to advocate Obama's untenable agenda.

It seems everything with this administration is a crisis.
It also appears Congress cut Obama's money and he needs more so let's create a crisis.
Geithner making the rounds on t.v. shows and touring the country saying "it's a crisis" We must take care of it this afternoon.
What happened to August 2? This is the second or third time they've moved the date.
Obama is out there saying "it's a crisis"
The townspeople tuned out the little boy who cried wolf.
That's what I'm doing. Tuning Obama and Geithner out.
I've had it with that cheap political trick. No more spending.
I have a feeling when we wake up on August 3, the world and this country will still be here. Life will go on.

One of Obama's appointed tax cheats wants us to up the credit limit. Too, bad Barack, here comes the citizenry to cut up your credit card. You spent gave over a billion taxpayer dollars to the unions in the auto bailout. Go stand on a street corner and sell papers. Go organize somewhere else because you are not doing it well where you are.

China's large (and growing) holdings of U.S. government debt have been a point of discussion for a number of years now. But they've really come to the forefront as the U.S. faces the (unlikely) prospect of a sovereign debt default.
However the U.S. resolves the debt ceiling issue, the fact is that China owns a lot of U.S. government debt. There are largely four reasons why: 1) China's exchange rate policy leads to huge dollar reserves; 2) the US-China trade imbalance leads to huge dollar reserves; 3) hot money flows into China lead to huge dollar reserves; and 4) FDI in China leads to huge dollar reserves. And what does China do with all those dollars? They buy U.S. Treasury securities.
http://www.futureofuschinatrade.com/article/why-chinese-holdings-us-government-debt-so-large

You can't just say pay debt, pay social security, and pay military. Without paying TSA and air traffic controllers the planes can't fly. Without customes and border patrol there is no intermational movement of goods or people. Without the IRS and Treasury there is no one to collect the taxes or service the debt. We don't need right wing BS.

To the guy who asked why it's such a problem to raise the debt ceiling THIS TIME when they did it without incident 7 times during the Bush Administration:
During the Bush Administration, Moody's and the S&P were not threatening to cut our credit rating. Now, they are. And the reason they are is that they are worried about the massive increase in deficits under the Obama Administration.
I want to know how the Stimulus, which billed out as a one time expense of 800+ billion, became a permanent fixture in the annual budget. The simple fact that the WH is unwilling to cut spending to 2008 levels says volumes about the goverance of this administration.

Note to Toni Tyler: I remember Summers talking real big about how he was going to talk tough with China, BEFORE he went to China. I also remember him coming back from China a chastened humbled man, after they told him the way things were. I also remember Geithner getting laughed off the stage by a crowd of Chinese STUDENTS when he tried to BS them. Yep, witness the Obama administration in all their glory!

The rating agencies told Obama in January that they would consider downgrading us if spending were not brought under control. So Obama sent a budget to the Senate that increased spending! It was so ridiculous that it was voted down 0-97! Then Obama hopped on AF One and started campaigning all over the US, plus visiting England, Ireland, Poland and Brazil, among others, while his wife takes her family and some relatives to South Africa on a week-long jaunt. Tell me again how serious he is, I need a good laugh right about now!

I haven't heard anyone mention this in the press, so I have no idea what the answer is, but are the Republican congressmen still expecting that they and their staffs will be paid after August 2nd? If we default, I figure that would be the first thing cut.

No. No one I know ever received anything from the "stimulus." A lot of it went to unions and Democrat organizations, likely to be recycled into Obama's 2012 campaign fund. There were almost no "shovel-ready" jobs.

Fear not, everything is going exactly according the plan ordered by the Filthy Rich owners of the GOP and DNC. When the market tumbles, they will buy up securities for pennies on the dollar, then the politicians will raise the debt ceiling, the markets will recover, and the Filthy Rich will have made many billions of dollars in profits. Just watch.

Posted By: Fear not, everything is going exactly according the plan ordered by the Filthy Rich owners of the GO | July 25, 2011 at 02:48 PM

Are you all smoking crack? No Congress by their own law gets paid first. There was a 4 trillion dollar deal that the idiot Republicans walked away from because it raised taxes on people making over a million a year. Do you really give a damn if they pay more; let them buy a new Mercedes every other year. The other part was to let the temporary tax cuts on over 250 k expire. Ronald Regan understood compromise and the necessity of raising taxes. Today's house should try to walk the Gippers path

The President must instruct the treasury to have the fed issue more bonds and effectively raise the debt ceiling by fiat. This is the amount of money the congress committed the country to when they passed the budget and the President is required by constitutional law to see that all the country's debts from this budget are paid. He is a constitutional lawyer he should know whether this would hold up or not. Go ahead and impeach. The Senate could never get a super majority anyway. A criminal gang of Norwegian-like maniacs have taken over the republikan congress and need to be stopped before they accomplish their mission to destroy the country. JUST DO IT!

The President must instruct the treasury to have the fed issue more bonds and effectively raise the debt ceiling by fiat. This is the amount of money the congress committed the country to when they passed the budget and the President is required by constitutional law to see that all the country's debts from this budget are paid. He is a constitutional lawyer he should know whether this would hold up or not. Go ahead and impeach. The Senate could never get a super majority anyway. A criminal gang of Norwegian-like maniacs have taken over the republikan congress and need to be stopped before they accomplish their mission to destroy the country. JUST DO IT!

After reading most of this garbage, I take it you all make over 200,000 and are too greedy to pay your share. Didn't some of you gain from the Stimulus Package?
Posted By: MSRIO | July 24, 2011 at 08:32 PM
You're kidding right? The gang of losers commenting on these blogs are a bunch or losers who drink cheap beer and live in mom's basement/attic/childhood room. $200k+ they don't have 200 nickels.

Mr. Geithner and the President need to use the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to solve the debt ceiling problem. According to the 14th Amendment, Section 4:
"The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurrred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion shall not be questioned." It sounds to me like the "debt ceiling" is unconstitutional. The President needs to authorize Mr. Geithner to borrow the money and pay the bills!
Let Congress take the President to court!

Given the seriousness of the situation if the debt limit is not raised, I cannot believe that there has not been intensive contingency planning by every executive branch department or agency for that event, directed by the president, with a range of suitable assumptions given. As a former DOD employee, I experienced several such contingency planning exercises, each for events much less serious than the present crisis. Such planning is what any executive, private or public, must do in anticipation of possible events. The absence of such government-wide planning indicates to me the lack of executive leadership on the part of our president and his lack of seriousness in general.